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Game 2 Part 1 Reunion
Part One: Reunion Event: Return to Venus Scene Its been almost a year now since the battle in the Gauntlet desert. The Aphrodian military has given those they have deemed "not involved" a handsome reward for dealing with such a potentially dangerous individual as Dutch "the colonel" McKracken. The crash site has been cordoned off and everything that lay in the desert has been removed by the government. * Every character that received compensation must make a Business roll (threshold 3) to see how they have managed their finances. If they pass, they keep their original 10,000 Marks. Failure will make them lose 5,000 Marks while a fumble will make them lose it all. Any degrees of success awards another 5,000 Marks. Moose was completely blindsided by the news that Dutch had managed to give him ownership of the company. Moose has found that the Salvage company was pretty clean and decided to keep the company name in order to maintain its good reputation. Whatever Dutch was up to, he did it with his own time and money. Moose has been securing his company, hiring more local workers instead of private security teams from any unknown origin. His work has paid off, bringing him in a profit as well as securing numerous contacts and connections along the way. * Ask if the company has a new name. Tell Moose that he thinks he is being followed, though he cannot seem to prove it. Remind Moose of the numerous but small weapon caches. Tell him secretly about a large secret room Dutch owned under a lot at the Apollon Stadium ('Note Moose 1).'' * Moose must make a Influence test (threshold 6) for his Wastelanders contacts to tell him that Ishtarian attacks have decreased. 1 Degree: Buildup of Ishtarian forces, namely mechs and artillery, has started on the few "secret" bases they have in the East (Gauntlet Desert). 2 Degree: Rumors of increased raids on sea faring wastelanders in the North, though by who is not certain. In his regular employ is Raltor operating as a diplomat to the wastelanders, a guide, and a personal body guard to Moose during delicate situations. When he's not on the clock, however, Raltor has been extremely scarce, especially whenever the crew is out in the wastes. Its clear that he has been suffering from something a lot lately. His sleeping has been erratic, and his attention always seems to be elsewhere. However, when duty calls, he is deadly as ever. Acting like a spear for Moose, Raltor has gained an infamous reputation amongst the raiders. * Ask about remote: How much time has he spent investigating it? Who has he asked about it? * The remote is custom made, and however it was sealed shut, it doesn't seem to come apart without probably breaking it. It is a basic command interface for a "Polymorphic Antigraphic Lifeform" (PAL). There is a small green light up monitor that currently reads out the distance and direction of its PAL. How it is used to control or interact with the PAL seems impossible to decipher. The last man holding the device was Dr. Fredrick Kerstein, dead in a lost lab at Catalhoyuk. ('''Note Raltor 1) * The search for his missing sister has made little progress. He knows that the Twin Cobras were the raiders who attacked his village, but what happened to them after the battle is a mystery. The site was completely cleaned up the next time he investigated it. Though there are plenty of other raider groups, the Twin Cobras haven't been heard from since. Just when he thought they were all dead, Raltor got word that a pack of Ishtarian Hounds with the Twin Cobra symbol painted on. The pack has been seen in the East. (Note Raltor 2) As a member of Agrona Arms, Ace Bannon has spent most of his time working private security, frequently with Moose, as well as working on his own Tyrus tech. Though Moose has come to depend on more locals for his security work, he cannot deny the effectiveness of a Tyrian mech pilot. Quite often Moose has even come to hire Ace by name, especially when things look like they might get dicey. * Ace's Neural Net Computer has been refined over the year. When the computer is active, Ace can add 1 Die to all his combat and maneuvering rolls (Gear Handling and Gunnery) but must pass a G Handling test at Threshold 3 to deal with the high speeds and turning. Failing causes him to lose a turn while he recovers. * The Neural Net is also developing a personality. Its very primitive at the moment, make monosyllabic sentences. However, it is very smart. Ace must literally talk to the machine through an interface, but gains the skill Psychology 2 by receiving replies. He only gets simple answer, though. Though Switch Jackson often finds himself working for Moose as a mechanic, he has found both money and valuable experience by winning matches and working in the motor pool at Apollon Stadium, Io's largest sporting venue. Taking part in various games, namely racing and mech dueling, Switch has developed his skills as man of action. Spending time around some of Aphrodia's toughest characters on the tracks has also lent him the opportunity to investigate where the Twin Cobras, the raiders responsible for destroying his farm, might be located. * A few former members of a the Twin Cobras have shown up in matches, but they have always managed to slip by. He was able to corner a member recently in the man's rented locker room at the stadium. During the encounter, the raider will admit that the clan had been dispersed when the two leaders broke up. He says that he followed the leader Rakken and would die to protect him. He then attacks and probably will be killed by Switch in self defense. Switch has a body to deal with and he knows that Rakken is probably close, possibly even here for the games. (Note Switch 1) Dr. Mordechai Swayze has been working for the salvage company part time for a few years, and the change of management has made little difference to that. Taking odd medical jobs just about anywhere he can, Dr. Swayze has seen plenty of Io, especially where the violence is greatest: Apollon Stadium. People from all over Aphrodia come to compete in games that frequently put its players lives at risk. Though outright killing is illegal, the high speed high impact nature of the sports are inherently dangerous. The Dr. is assisted by his two personnel: Egan, a former Twin Cobra raider, and Phoebe Chen, a former smuggler. Despite his shady disposition and unbearable appearance, the doctor has been a life saver to everyone here, patching up and mending injuries at every turn. * The doctor managed to slip past the detection of the Aphrodian government. He also managed to save the lives of both Egan and Phoebe from the government as well. * Egan was forced into service by being infected by the doctor's serum. Because of this, Egan has a bitter enmity for Dr. Swayze, but his dependence on the antidote is too great for him to do anything about it. The strain of living in this nightmare has caused him to become erratic, often times fumbling in his duties. * Phoebe Chen is extremely grateful of what the doctor did for her. Not only did he save her from her near mortal wounds, but he managed to cover for her when the military showed up. Since the ship she worked on was destroyed and being investigated by the government (she worked off the books), she had no choice but to find a new job. She had acted as the doctor's assistant, though this mostly consists of her driving or flying him around and acting as his bodyguard. She is much easier to look at than the doctor, so she has also taken up acting as "face" of his very small company. Florence was quickly accosted. The Aphrodian government questioned her on her work permits, and despite the fact that she was completely legal, they easily trumped up claims that they were out of date. They quickly took all her footage and notes, despite her best attempts to hide them. She was sent back to Earth on the very next ride. Not to be deterred, she has been working harder than ever to hone her skills as a reporter. Working in some of the roughest places on Earth to get the best scoop, she has recovered from the debacle on Venus well enough to get another shot at the scene. The Ishtarian Chancellor August Donner has been in the news a lot lately as he has continued his rhetoric of a free and unified Venus. His bold claims that Ishtar will soon make this dream a reality has put many people on edge, especially the Aphrodian government, which has been dealing with plenty of its own social unrest. With a new legal work permit and a couple fake identities to throw off the authorities, Florence has grabbed another ride to Venus in hopes of documenting the potential outbreak of war. A familiar contact on Venus, Doc Mulden, has informed her that he has some news that she will be interested in. Scene: Greenwall Bar 8.10.2189, Early Day (Hot but fairly comfortable) Though its been almost a year, Greenwall Bar has barely changed. The games are still playing loud on the screen surrounded by patrons gambling and drinking. Florence walks into the bar to see Doc Mulden, still serving in his stuffy outfit. He smiles at her, but instead of speaking in code, he calls right out to Florence. He has a hot tip and knows just the person she would want to talk to. Pointing across the room, Moose sits with a cocky look, surrounded by his two armed guards, Raltor and Ace Bannon. Moose tells the team that he has been looking into the business he strangely inherited. Apparently the salvage operation was in tip top shape, and the investigation by Gigatech was likely part of the Company trying to investigate Dutch himself. Though the McKracken Salvage was clean, Dutch had plenty of secrets of his own that he has left behind like a bread trail. Most of what Moose has found is scattered information about Mords, politicians, smugglers, and a number of large businesses, but nothing concrete to connect anything definitively. Aside from conspiracy theories, Moose has also found a good number of caches consisting of weapons, food, and survival gear. The caches have not contained anything too substantial (nothing that Moose couldn't buy on his own). But a number of notes have mentioned a lot that Dutch owns at Apollon Stadium in an area that is currently shut down for repairs. There is no way to know what is in it, but Dutch seems to have spent a lot of money that has been sunk into the lot, which would have originally been used as a service garage. Moose mentions that ever since he inherited the business, he feels that he is being followed. Though he technically owns the company fair and square and the books are all clean, the fact that Dutch just handed it over to him has probably raised their attention. Not to mention that just like how Moose was investigating for Gigatech, its likely that somebody has filled his empty shoes. For this reason he would prefer to have armed guards and to use his own transportation. He tell Florence that if she wants to find out what Dutch was up to to get the Aphrodian military involved, the best place to start looking is this lot. * While talking, a news bulletin flashes on the vidscreens. Ishtarian forces have amassed around the city of Nazareth from the north east. They have not made any attacks directly on the city, but traffic from the north and the east of the city has been completely cut off. The Aphrodian government has dispatched a large number of units from Io and Bergana (in the south) to come to the defense of Nazareth. A speaker for the president comes on "The very presence of Ishtar on the Aphrodian continent is a sign of aggression, and this encroaching force is bordering on the act of war. Aphrodia will not make the first attack, but it will make the last if Ishtar decides to start a war." * After socializing, Moose will encourage them to leave. He wants to meet up with some of his other crew since this situation might be a handful. They leave in his personal car (which is armor platted). Moose will ask someone else to drive while he looks over some paper work. * About halfway to the stadium, Moose will mention that he feels like they are being tailed. Anyone who passes a Notice test (threshold 4) will see that they are being followed by a black car. In order to loose the tail without drawing attention, the driver must take 5x contested Driving tests (vs 1D6+1). Every success adds +1 to the roll, while every failure adds +1 to the tail. Whoever has the highest score at the end wins. If the tail wins, the tail disappears but is likely replaced with a new, unknown tail. If they do not loose the tail, Moose will tell the crew that they will have to shake them when they get to the stadium. Event: Apollon Stadium Scene: The Games Apollon Stadium is a huge, sprawling complex of arenas, tracks, and playing fields. Named after the icy body that slammed into Venus and altered his history, the Stadium was designed as an attempt to create an Olympic venue on Venus. Though the facility was quickly constructed, the event fell through, leaving the city with a large dept. Fortunately, a variety of sports have filled the arenas, such as motorbike racing, destruction derbies, and mech battles. The violent nature of these sports brings many people to both play and spectate. It is also a source of income as teams vie for sponsorship and rogues gamble with their own lives. Since the day is still young and the heat is not unbearable, the games are in full swing. With so much entertainment, the crowds have swelled considerably. Looking to make a quick buck and to cream his opponents, Switch Jackson is riding hard on a monobike in a race against 19 other riders. Flying down the rough track at breakneck speeds, Switch manages to edge his way toward into fourth place. He pushes on. * Switch makes 3x Drive tests (threshold 3). Each degree of success puts in forward in place. Each failure puts him back to fourth place. After the third test the race has ended. Rewards are 1st: 1,000 Marks, 2nd: 500 Marks, 3rd: 100 Marks. After the race while putting his bike away, Switch sees a man with the Twin Cobra symbol painted on the side of his helmet. Switch has noticed some members of the Twin Cobras showing up lately, but they all seem to have slipped past him before he could investigate. But now he has found another who seems to be completely off guard as he walks away at a brisk pace. * The man is going to the hallway with individually rented locker rooms. He walks into his locker, and just as the door is about to close behind him, Switch slips his foot in, holding it open. * Inside, the raider starts to undress. If Switch tries to talk to him or approach him in any way, the raider will dive for his boots where he is keeping a 9mm pistol. If he gets the pistol, roll for Combat Sense. If the raider wins, he will point the gun at Switch and hold him up. * If the raider and Switch get a chance to speak, the raider will admit that the original Twin Cobras disbanded. Now he follows Rakken, the strongest of the two brothers who led the warband. He tells Switch that whatever they did to make him hunt them down, he could care less. He would die for Rakken. The raider tries to pull the trigger, but the gun jams. * The raider also has a knife hidden on his belt with his pants. If the gun jams, he will try to grab the knife and attack Switch. At any point after they have had a chance to talk and they are fighting, the raider will either slip and crack his head off of the tile floor, knocking him unconscious and killing him in the next five minutes. * Rifling through his affects will reveal a data pad. He was using a program that deletes messages after a few minutes of them being received, but the last message is still there. It reads "Rakken, East Arena, 1800 hours tonight", just before it disappears. * Switch now has a dead body on his hands and needs to get rid of it. Scene: The Infirmary Not far from the arenas are the infirmaries. With so many hazards, patients are a regular, and all those bodies keep Dr. Swayze in business. Though he takes up plenty of missions with McKracken Salvage in order to study in the field, working at the Stadium provides him with a very regular income. His personal assistant and former raider, Egan, desperately tries to keep up with his boss, but he seems to be all thumbs. His liaison and bodyguard, Phoebe Chen, spends her time managing the patients and speaking for the doctor whenever necessary. Its the end of Dr. Swayze's rounds and he is cleaning up his work area, though Egan is doing most of the hard work. While putting his medical tools away, Phoebe approaches him with a message. Its a data pad she was handed by one of the patients. * The note is from a Twin Cobra member who happened to stumble upon the Doctor's true identity. The raider had previously worked with government forces, including the initial hunt to find the Doctor the first time he escaped custody. Though the doctor doesn't look like his original photo, the raider knew that he had been disfigured in an accident. The raider would probably never have noticed anything, but after getting hurt and spending time with the doctor, he recognized the mannerisms and speech patterns. * The data pad says "I know who you are. If you want to keep your secret, come to locker room 104-B" (Note Swayze 1) * The raider is the same person who Switch ends up fighting and killing. Scene: The Stadium The crowds are going wild over the games. The roar of the engines and the cheering crowd is deafening. Though the bleachers are packed, there are also tons of people moving from one arena to the next. * If the crew did not lose their tail, the crowds make it very easy. * If the crew did not notice the tail in the first place, Moose will notice him and tell the team to try to lose him in the crowd and head to the service halls. Each player must make a Stealth test (Threshold 3). Anyone who fails (Moose automatically fails) will attract the the tail into the service halls. Whoever passes can make a stealth attack/maneuver. * The tail is a strongly built woman with an brown leather jacket. If she gets cornered, she will try to run. If she has to fight, she will try to give up, though she will defend herself and then run if necessary. If she gets caught, she will admit that she was paid by a man named Victor to keep tabs on Moose. Other than that, she just gets paid under the table by his goons. Finally moving past the masses, the crew finds itself entering the service halls. Behind the scenes, these rooms and halls allow for the venue to move people and equipment without competing with the crowds. Moose shows his ID to the guards and they let him and his compatriots through. Back here, the sounds of the stadium are muffled, but still quite audible. Large flatbeds are hauling bikes, buggies, and mechs throughout the facility, while service staff push carts of food out to the crowds. Plenty of employees and contractors stand around, talking and enjoying a smoke away from the people and the hot sun. * If Switch or the Doctor have not contacted Moose yet, he will try to contact them now. He needs them to help him investigate Dutch's old lot. * Let the players figure out how to get rid of the body. If they are taking a very long time, have a security guard show up to press the issue. He won't immediately notice the body (unless its obvious), but he will be asking the players to clear out of the locker rooms soon as check out time is in a few hours. If Florence tries to distract the Guard and fails, he will ask her for an ID. After dealing with the corpse of the raider, Moose now has his team assembled. Collecting everyone together, he pulls up a shuttle and drives deep into the heart of the facility. The Stadium, much like the rest of Io, is built on a patchwork of hills, with many of the older sections closer to the top. One of the largest arenas of the whole facility is near the top of the highest hill, though the sports carried out here tend to be B and C leagues. Directly beneath the arena in the service halls are numerous lots designed for teams to store and tend to their vehicles. Thought the area is still in use, it is in a great state of disrepair and is covered in trash. While searching for the lot, the crew bumps into a team of players (10x) coming fresh off the tracks. They are a rowdy bunch of local players, though not in the best of moods. They seem to have lost their last match and are acting out on each other and on the dilapidated stadium. As they are walking by, one of the sports players starts to make cat calls to Florence, saying "Hey there alabaster, Venus is a dangerous place, why don't you come over to my place where I can keep you safe?" while second player throws an empty sports bottle at Raltor, yelling "Go back to the dunes you sand rat". * The team will move on without incident if the players allow. If any of the players try to deal with the sports team, the team will engage them. A handful of the sport players will actually try to defend the characters, but most of them will start to yell and harass anybody who talks back. * The Team Leader will eventually step in and try to quell the situation. He is also chauvinistic, but he is mostly interested in avoiding problems. He will hit on Florence and ask her what she needs. * Another team player will notice Dr. Swayze. The Doctor must make a Medicine Test (Threshold 5) to see what kind of medical help he gave. If he fails, the raider will complain that he is a quack, which will negatively encourage the other teammates. The more successes, the more the sports player will laud his skills at saving his life. * If the players develop a positive relationship, the sports team will show them exactly where the lot can be found. If the players develop a negative relationship, the sports team will start a fist fight, pushing their largest player forward to prove himself. Whether they win the fist fight or not, the sports team will then leave, mocking the characters. * If the characters need to still look for the lot, they will eventually find it behind quite a large pile of garbage that is nearly blocking the whole hallway. Scene: The Lot After hiking over piles of trash and machine scrap, the crew finds itself at the old lot owned by Dutch. The lot itself is a large room (about 60x120 meters, or 200x400 feet), big enough to service a few vehicles or mechs, though the only things immediately noticeable inside is a number of empty mech gurneys and engine hoists. The entrance is wide enough to allow vehicles into the lot and there are a few doors inside that lead to small locker rooms. It doesn't look like the place has been used in years, and there is even some evidence that squatters have lived here on occasion. * A basic sweep of the lot won't reveal too much. A successful Notice/Investigation Test (threshold 3) will reveal a homeless woman sleeping under a bench covered in cardboard. She will be very startled by the players and will complain quite a bit that they are in her home. If any of the players ask about Dutch, she will recognize the name. She will say that he had come here a few times, the last time being more than a year ago. She won't tell the players anything else unless they compensate her (she will accept almost anything). If compensated, she will tell them that he used a hatch beneath one of the engine hoists. * And Investigation test (Threshold 6) will reveal that although it hasn't been moved recently, one of the engine hoists has been move multiple times, leaving scuffs on the floor. Beneath the hoist is a large oil drainage grating, big enough for a person to climb down into. Climbing down into the drainage will reveal a large oil tank that in now empty. Near the back of the tank a makeshift hatch has been build that is sealed with an electronic lock (threshold 5), the hatch leads to the Underground Cache. Scene: Underground Cache After navigating the false oil tank, the hatch opens into a very large room, much larger than the lot. Its hard to judge the distances, but its probably at least 100,000 square meters (about 300,000 square feet). Most of the space is taken up by mountains of crates, however there are many large vehicles inside as well. Rows of mechs, armoured vehicles, and a handful of small tanks are lined up like a military parade. The whole structure is build deep into the hillside of the Stadium, though how any of it managed to get in here is not readily apparent. Nowhere within eye sight can be seen any other doors or entrances. * The hatch ends at a ladder that descends about 3 stories to the ground floor. The crates are all very large and heavy and are only differentiated by serial codes and bar codes. Nothing on them indicates their contents. Physically breaking into a crate will be very hard, a Strength Test (threshold 7), and even so will only open a small portion. Roll a D6 to see the contents: *# Rations- Various MREs and water *# Personal Armor- Mostly light flak armor *# Batteries- power supplies of all kinds, including various vehicle batteries *# Small Arms- Mostly 11mm Pistols, 6mm Machine Pistols, 7mm Assault Rifles, and combat knives. *# Heavy Arms- Mostly 15mm Sniper Rifles, 9mm Light Machines Guns, along with a couple 37mm Grenade Launchers and 50mm Rocket Launchers. (no ammunition) *# Ammunition- clips for every weapon * All of the vehicles seem to be in brand new shape, so much so that most of them still have tags and caps that would need to be removed for operation. A simple Mechanic Test (threshold 2) will reveal that they are in perfect working order, though they will need batteries installed and fuel. If a small power supply is applied, their on-board computers can be activated. A Computer Test (threshold 3) will reveal that all these vehicles were built by the Aphrodian government in the city of Bergana. Any degrees of success will also reveal that all of these machines have been discontinued and replaced with newer models. * There is no obvious entrances into the cache other than the small hatch from the lot. A Notice/Investigation roll (Threshold 4) will reveal that there is a very large door build into the ceiling. Its hard to see in the poor lighting and it is flush with the overall structure. There isn't any noticeable way to open the door from inside the warehouse. * After about an hour of investigations, Switch will get an alert on his data pad about Rakken (Rakken, East Arena, 1800 hours tonight). He knows that there will be a open mech derby, last one standing takes the grand prize of 20,000 Marks. Looking at the current participants, he sees the name Rakken on the list. Now that they have found Dutch's secret horde, Moose is noticeably excited but also worried. He decides that he needs some time to decide what (or how) to deal with this mountain of weapons. He decides to sit in on a match while he works out some details on his personal data pad. Scene: The Bout The upcoming Mech Derby is open to anyone who wants to participate. It will be a free for all, last man standing wins. The current roster has 5 players, each operating their won personalized mechs. Switch prepares at his rented garage. Here he has most of the tools one would need to service mechs and other small vehicles. Along with his gear, he has his scratch build monobike and light mech. Both have been assembled over time part by part. Switch powers up his armored suit and prepares for combat. The arena is a wide area dotted with large piles of wreckage as cover. No fire arms are allowed, but the arena is littered with swords, axes, chains, and spears. The 5 (+ players) will start on the edges of the arena. Once all the players are ready and in position, the announcer calls out the event. "Ladies and gentlemen, urbanites and wastelanders, welcome to tonight's Open Mech Derby. The rules are simple: Last mech standing wins, no firearms and no kill shots. Now that the all the players are in position, let the games begin!!!" * Rakken is operating a medium bodied mech. It has a lot of armor on its chest and shoulders, but less on its legs. However, it has a powerful secondary movement system. * Let the players fight. At the end of the match, the winner is brought to the stage for his prize. * While watching the game, Florence gets an alert on her data pad. It reads that the Chancellor August Donner has just died in his sleep. Not long afterwards, many people's data pads start to light up. Secondary news sources and rags are quickly pumping out conspiracy theories about the Chancellor's death, some blaming the Aphrodian government, others claiming its a false flag to start a war, while some are even claiming that he isn't dead at all. The news seems to be taking over everyone's attention, much more than the games. * If Switch wants to pursue Rakken after the game, he can. Rakken seems to be in a hurry and is leaving the facility fast. Event: Invasion Scene: Invasion The crowds in the stadium are getting very anxious. The news of the Chancellor's death is huge. He was one of the most famous (or infamous) commanders of Ishtar and the most vocal supporter of the Unification of Venus. Regardless if he was actually dead or alive, the news of his death signaled something important and pivotal. The Chancellor had become the living embodiment of the Venusian Cold War. Though most of the Aphrodian spectators seemed happy that the Chancellor was now dead, it is obvious that there is a great unease growing about what will happen next. Almost like a sign from god, the crowds were met with a sudden deafening clamor. Wailing loudly, air raid sirens spark up across the city. For a few minutes, everyone is completely silent as they soak in the weight of the noise. Just as people were beginning to think that is was a false alarm, a massive shadow appears over head. Like a black cloud, an aerial armada of massive drop ships flies overhead, their bellies detailed in the flag of Ishtar.